Chinese Estates Aims to Purchase Two Goldman Offices in London

March 4 (Bloomberg) -- Chinese Estates Holdings Ltd., a
property company controlled by Hong Kong billionaire Joseph Lau,
wants to buy two buildings in the City of London occupied by
Goldman Sachs Group Inc.

Chinese Estates aims to add Peterborough Court and Daniel
House after purchasing River Court, a Goldman building on the
same street, in January. The two properties were put up for sale
last month for at least 300 million pounds ($488 million),
according to Jones Lang LaSalle Inc., which is marketing them.
They are part of Goldman’s European headquarters.

“Chinese Estates is very interested in buying the Goldman
Sachs buildings in London,” Alison Yeung, a spokeswoman for
Chinese Estates in Hong Kong, said yesterday by telephone.

London was one of the first real estate markets to see a
pickup in deals and prices after the financial crisis. Sales of
existing commercial property in the U.K. capital generated more
money than any other city last year, according to Real Capital
Analytics Inc.

The Goldman buildings are the kind of assets that attract
“strong interest from overseas investors who view London as
their preferred investment location and a safe haven during this
period of global economic uncertainty,” said Stephen Down,
managing partner of Gresham Down Capital Partners.

Peterborough Court and Daniel House have total space of
370,526 square feet (34,500 square meters). The buildings on
Fleet Street in central London were put on the market after the
former owner, Canadian developer Jesta Group, defaulted on debt
repayments, Jones Lang said.

Goldman has two other office buildings in London, both of
which are in the city’s main financial district.